Saturday, October 10, 2009

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 26 — Eight months after the death of A. Kugan, his mother N. Indra and two lawyers today tried to send a memorandum to Istana Negara to seek the intervention of the palace.

Indra who was accompanied by about 20 supporters gathered in front of Istana Negara at 11am. The group spent about 30 minutes before they were dispersed by police. They failed to send the memorandum to Istana Negara.

Later, Indra told reporters that the memorandum was to seek justice for the death of Kugan as there were no developments on the case.

She urged the government to give Kugan’s case the same treatment as that accorded to the case of Teoh Beng Hock, what with the coming Deepavali.

SEMENYIH, Oct 10 – The Teoh family had spent all of yesterday cooking up a storm for their younger son and brother and the fruits of their labour were clearly seen this morning when they visited his newly completed “home” at the Nirvana Memorial Garden here, 100 days after his funeral.

The terraced lawns were trim and green. A wide pebbled path led the way to Teoh Beng Hock’s final address at Lot SB98 NVB, which would command a breathtaking view if not for the haze blurring the horizon.

A veritable feast was laid out before the young man, who would be forever 30. It would take him a while to go through the entire meal, as noted later when elder brother Meng Kee, 33, checked to see if Teoh had “eaten” his fill.

Using two coins, he threw them to the ground. According to Chinese custom, if both coins show the same face upon landing, the deceased is still indulging in the meal.

It took Meng Kee several tries before his baby brother appeared satisfied.

A cauldron of curry fought with a pot of fried beehoon for the place of honour in front of his polished marble tombstone bearing his smiling portrait and the sum of his history etched in gold.

Under the celebratory red ribbon tied to his gravestone, were words in Chinese calligraphy.

Teoh Beng Hock, born 1979, died 2009. His ancestry was traced to the Eng Choon clan in China’s Fujian province.

Unlike western tombstones with their flowery eulogies, the only hint of sentimentality set in stone mentioned the young political secretary’s “lovely wife” without spelling her name.

A Taoist priest dressed in a satiny black robe with a golden lotus flower perched on a black cap signalled for the family to step in front of the grave while he performed the ritual to “bless” Teoh’s last home.

Batu MP Tian Chua and Selayang MP William Leong were in Paris to coincide with the premier's visit. Chua rushed to Bagan Pinang hours after arriving at KLIA yesterday evening. He told the crowd at a ceramah, "The French press didn't ask about our political system or opportunities for their investors. They only want to know about what has happened to the Altantuya case."Let's not even mention this disgusting incident...

Friday, October 9, 2009

OCT 9 — Today, Barisan Nasional promises us change and reform — a stark difference from its previous insinuations that Malaysians want and need more of the same. But Barisan has blatantly failed to deliver, even under the leadership of Datuk Seri Najib Razak. All we keep getting is the same old — pardon my French — crap.

Barisan says it will clean house, tossing out the corrupt and criminal. It’s said that before; Tun Dr. Mahathir entered office promising a slew of reforms, as did Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. We know what they gave us; their protégé, Najib, is giving us more of the same. I need not elaborate on Isa Samad’s rehabilitation; that speaks for itself.

Just permit me to add that we have known about the multi-billion ringgit Port Klang Free Zone debacle for years now, and that to date, nobody has been collared and held in the MACC offices overnight for non-stop questioning. We can question a lowly state assemblyman’s aide about the petty sum of RM2,400, but we can’t even bring ourselves to hold ministers and tycoons accountable for wasting billions — this has been the case since the time of Mahathir, and it remains the case today.

Barisan promises to unite the country. Again, we have heard this before. Dr. Mahathir’s Bangsa Malaysia has gone down the drain, with nothing accomplished. Abdullah promised to work for all Malaysians, but try as he did, he delivered nothing except a handful of intensely racist Umno party conferences. Until you walk the walk, you’re just talking cock.

Perhaps the most telling incident under Najib’s regime so far has been that of the cow’s head protest. I dare not imagine what would happen if an Indian group had done the same to a Quran — if they had mutilated it, dragged it along a road and then trampled on it. This is exactly what laws like the Sedition Act are meant to prevent — and yet the incident met with terribly muted response from Umno leaders, who are content to pretend they speak for all Malaysians, while really only speaking for their own kind.

Najib promised instant action on the cow’s head incident — and yet nobody has been jailed, no Umno member has been reprimanded. The standard refrain of “Let the courts and police do their job” rings hollow when it is used to cover a multitude of injustices and sins. Does anyone honestly doubt that if something similar had been done to the Quran, the men behind it would be languishing right now in Kamunting, or worse?

Barisan, you ask us for the benefit of the doubt, to give you another chance. How many more bloody chances do you need to prove that your party is just too stricken by arrogance and graft to govern? We have given you more than enough chances — we have returned you to power in every general election since Independence.

We need to stop pretending that Barisan is worthy of consideration because of all these nitpicks you can find with Pakatan Rakyat. Yes, Pakatan is not perfect. But I would much rather have an imperfect Pakatan government than vote for the perfectly consistent dishonesty of Barisan. The biggest corruption scandal in Pakatan to date involves a few cows and petty cash amounting to a few thousand ringgit here and there; the biggest scandal in Barisan involves a multi-billion ringgit white elephant. Let’s not even talk about racism — not when the ideology of Barisan’s largest component party is Ketuanan Melayu, and the ideology of Pakatan’s largest component party is ketuanan rakyat.

There is absolutely no reason to keep voting Barisan back into power. Barisan is as predictable as clockwork; each prime minister promises us the things we want, and each prime minister delivers the exact opposite of his promises. There is no dilemma here; we know exactly what a Barisan government will deliver. We have yet to learn what exactly Pakatan can accomplish. If you really are fed up with billions of your ringgit going down the drain, if you really are fed up with leaders more obsessed about the colour of your skin than the content of your character, you ought to vote for Pakatan.

John Lee is a third-year student of economics at Dartmouth College in the United States. He has been thinking aloud since 2005 at infernalramblings.com

Thursday, October 8, 2009

With this by-election the war between Barisan Najis and Pakatan Rakyat has shifted from the political to the spiritual dimension. BN is out in full force with massive amounts of money and an overwhelming extravagance of banners, flags and buntings - while Pakatan Rakyat has to contend with mostly insular, agrarian voters with minimal access to digital information. Will the immorality of BN's arrogance, greed and violence swing the votes once again towards CHANGE... or will Bagan Pinang vote for the status quo and the devil they know?

I join the Barisan Rakyat Bloggers in Port Dickson, led by Bernard Khoo aka Zorro, to tap directly into the by-election fever. Claire and Fauzi can't resist snapping away at the sunset while Duke keeps a watchful eye for potential Rempit attacks.We manage to finish our sup tulang and keropok unmolested.

At a Pakatan Rakyat press conference a PAS volunteer masks himself against the deadly B1N1 virus.

BN has literally smothered Port Dickson in banners, buntings and flags. Obviously, Umno has spent at least four times more than PAS on the war of party insignia. Will voters recognize this as overkill... or will they be cowed, cajoled and bribed into voting once again for the morally bankrupt Barisan Najis?

At the PAS secretariat, a frenzy of constant activity as things start hotting up...

Salahuddin Ayob, PAS campaign director briefs the media on glaring discrepancies found in the electoral roll - particularly with the postal voters, hundreds of whom are also registered as "legitimate" civilian voters. With him are PKR Youth chief Shamsul Iskandar and PAS spokesman Mahfuz Omar.

Salahuddin informs the media that nine PAS members were injured in a vicious attack launched against the PAS Youth information center around 3:30AM. One was badly slashed with a samurai sword just outside a police station (see photos here and here). There were also reports that a PAS member had been savagely beaten up yesterday afternoon by Umno supporters.The press prick up their ears when informed about the nocturnal eruption of gratuitous violence. You can only attend so many ceramahs before you get tired of political speeches. But blood has been spilled and word will quickly spread in Bagan Pinang that Umno instinctively resorts to violence when thwarted. The severely injured PAS member has been warded in the Port Dickson hospital. We wish him a speedy recovery.

PAS security chief Maj. Abdul Rashid Hassan Basri (ret.) briefs reporters about the early morning Umno Rempit attack. According to him there were at least a hundred Rempits involved. The PAS Youth information center was manned at the time by 14 youngsters. They called the police and were informed that the cops were having their late-night supper and would investigate later...

Major Rashid was aghast at the hooliganistic tactics engaged in by Umno. A Pakatan Rakyat vehicle parked along the road had its driver's door kicked in by Rempits.

Is it any wonder why PAS needs its own dedicated and disciplined security unit?

I enjoyed a brief chat with PAS campaign volunteers Suriah Narayanan, who came all the way from Ipoh, and Razali Lamun. We came to a unanimous agreement that the political confrontation between Pakatan Rakyat and Barisan Najis had turned into a war between Human and Inhuman Values.

Our indefatigable cybercommando Fauzi Azmi is an endless source of breaking news which he constantly gathers from an extensive network on the ground and puts up on his blog, Perisik Rakyat. Fauzi learnt that every member of the armed forces stationed in Port Dickson was handed RM300 in anticipation of the postal voting which began this morning. Ordinary voters only received RM100. Guess that's what the crime minister meant when he announced that Port Dickson will be designated "an army town." Fauzi emailed me the following pics from last night's media conference with Felda settlers who told a sad tale of having been cheated big-time by former mentri besar Isa Abdul Samad...

PKR's Saifuddin Nasution holds up a dud contract signed in 1996 between the Felda settlers and a defunct company on behalf of the Negri Sembilan state government under former mentri besar Isa Abdul Samad. Just another sordid Umno warlord land grab scheme... do Malaysians in general and Bagan Pinang voters deserve more of the same? (Felda settlers' media conference pics by Fauzi Azmi)

PAS supporters come in all shapes, sizes, and temperaments - but, mostly, they come across as decent human beings with downhome human values and a slightly rebellious nature.

Local youth helps the PAS campaign by manning the information booth.

Encik Mohamed from Kuala Lumpur tells me in perfect English he was once an Umno Class A contractor. Then he got his fingers burnt and came to his senses...One of the highlights of this morning's press conference was meeting the gutsy V. Sivakumar, the legitimate Speaker of the Perak state assembly. Yes, he's on my facebook friends list! :-)Blogger Central for the Bagan Pinang by-election. Heartfelt thanks to Alan D'Cruz for hosting the Special Bunch and everybody else who contributed to the cause by making us coffee, buying us lunch, serving us pumpkin soup and yogurt vadai - and generally being the best company anybody could possibly hope for. The general feeling about Bagan Pinang is that the odds appear overwhelmingly stacked in favor of Barisan Najis - but miracles do happen and even a 10-vote win for PAS would ensure the rapid demise of an utterly corrupt, arrogant and irredeemable Umno/BN regime. Let's pray for a miracle, folks. Images & captions by Antares

NEWSFLASH: Tomorrow, 9 October, Anwar Ibrahim will be making his rounds in Bagan Pinang. That should liven things up even more and perhaps turn the tide around. Who else but Anwar can get through to even those who are only beginning to wake up from 52 years of gross misgovernance?

Port Dickson municipal workers dismantle a billboard put up in the heart of town by Pakatan Rakyat while a police light strike force stands guard. Pic courtesy of The Malaysian Insider.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

I'd like to thank Jean Hudon of the Earth Rainbow Network for promoting Charlie Veitch and Danny Shine's work through his regular e-bulletin. It was how I discovered their YouTube videos.

Charlie says his greatest inspiration has been the late great stand-up comedian and philosopher Bill Hicks (right) who died of cancer in 1994 at age 32. Watch Hicks in action in 1993 at the Dominion Theatre in London.

"Suppression of dissent is undesirable in society for a variety of fundamental reasons. Freedom of speech is a cardinal rule for a free society. Dissent is absolutely essential to allow all points of view to be given and considered. Censorship plays a central role in the control of speech and other forms of human expression, often by government intervention (through criminalization or other regulation). It is most commonly applied to acts which occur in public circumstances, and most formally involves suppression of ideas by criminalizing or regulating expression." - Charlie Veitch

If you enjoyed that, you may want to view all 12 videos in this brilliant series, beginning with these two...